JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

Cormac McCarthy’s The Road focuses on a father’s relationship with his son as they journey through a post-apocalyptic America. The novel possesses common themes and binary oppositions of speculative fiction: familiar vs. unfamiliar, insider vs. outsider, isolation, and the discovery of the unknown. These are essential in speculative fiction and dystopian novels; McCarthy’s uncanny, surreal location is a vital part of the story and propels it forward.

McCarthy omits a lot of information about the past, and in the flashbacks he instead focuses on the relationship between the father and his deceased wife. This left me wondering what happened to America prior to the events in the novel. Ultimately, McCarthy uses the dialogue between the man and his son to reveal back story; however, he reveals very little of it. The man’s flashbacks are only about his wife because in that situation, that is all he thinks about.

The dialogue effectively illustrates the relationship dynamic between the boy and his father. The boy is growing up in a post-apocalyptic world and their bleak, disruptive surroundings make me wonder why they want to continue living. The lack of punctuation and the disjointed conversation are a stylistic technique that’s not often seen in speculative fiction. This emphasises that not only has the man’s country collapsed, but civilisation has as well. Memories and dreams are revealed sporadically throughout the novel and are often cut short. Backstory is usually a major part of speculative fiction; however, McCarthy has omitted a lot of information and instead focused on the collapse of language and the breakdown of speech between the father and his son.

McCarthy’s manipulation of language is an innovative way of drawing parallels to the characters’ surroundings. The fragmented, expositional sentences compare to the fractured lives of the man and his son, and these sentences align with the characters’ fragmented process of sensory perception. These references can also be made through the objects that the man and the boy have to throw away, including the boy’s flute, which represents a contemporary medium for language. When the boy and his father discard this flute, a parallel is drawn to the loss of language that now inhabits the post-apocalyptic setting of The Road.

My Score: 8/10

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Confession. I read this because people won’t stop talking about it, and when you work in the publishing industry, all that people talk about are books. In particular, popular books that everyone else is talking about. It’s a word of mouth kind of industry.

So the storyline isn’t that unique (it’s very My Sister’s Keeper-esque), and the reader just knows that it’s going to be a sad ending. But despite that, the novel progresses at a fast pace and offers great insight into the effects of cancer on a patient. At no point did I feel that the story was stagnant or that the societal relations were forced. The dialogue was believable, and John Green presented the cancer-stricken narrator in a believable way without being too poor-me-poor-me-poor-me.

At times I felt that Hazel’s voice was a little too young. For a girl who’d spent many years with cancer and knew that she didn’t have much longer to live, she seems a little immature at times. There almost seemed to be a sub plot in the story surrounding Van Houten and Hazel’s favourite novel. I liked this element to the story, and thought that it tied the piece together quite nicely. The characters in the novel all weave in and out of the story seamlessly. I’d recommend this novel not just to regular YA readers, but also to fans of Jodi Picoult.

My Score: 8/10

Deeper Water by Jessie Cole

Innocent and unworldly, Mema is still living at home with her mother on a remote, lush hinterland property. It is a small, confined, simple sort of life, and Mema is content with it.

One day, during a heavy downpour, Mema saves a stranger from a flooded creek. She takes him into her family home, where, marooned by floods, he has to stay until the waters recede. And without either of them realising it, he opens the door to a new world of possibilities that threaten to sweep Mema into the deep

‘They say every hero has to leave home, but what those first steps are like I’m yet to know’

Jessie Cole’s latest title is quite similar to her debut novel: an outsider’s life intersects with someone from a small town. The novel is very character-driven (again, much like Darkness on the Edge of Town) and allows the reader to seep into these characters’ lives unnoticed and observe their somewhat personal circumstances.

The story is subtly tragic – Mema’s growing desire for the stranger disturbs the reader because they know that they don’t quite fit and that it’ll never work out. They live two completely different lifestyles, and Mema’s isolation from society is highlighted even further when she saves the stranger. He’s obsessed with gaining access to his email accounts and his laptop, and Mema struggles to understand why those things are important to him.

The characters intersect at the right moments so that the reader doesn’t feel overpowered by the plot or character relations. And the development of character is gradual and graceful. The novel illustrates a comparison between two separate lives and details the resulting conflict when those lives clash.

At times, the pace of the story seemed to be slow and the characters seemed stagnant. But if you can get past that and appreciate the fluidity of the writing and the raw beauty of the characters, then you’ll enjoy this novel.

My Score: 8/10

All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry

Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. This startlingly original novel will shock and disturb you; it will fill you with Judith’s passion and longing; and its mysteries will keep you feverishly turning the pages until the very last.

There are many reasons why this novel could’ve been a disaster. Firstly, it’s in second person narration, which is extremely hard to do and even harder to make effective. Secondly, the book is made up of tiny chapters, some just a few lines long. And thirdly, the story seems to jump from past to present quite quickly.

However, Berry has successfully written second person narration so that it’s engaging, evocative, and intriguing. The only other book that I’ve read that did second person narration well was Jodi Picoult’s Handle with Care. And I think the small chapters really illustrated the protagonist’s fractured state of mind – on a side note, Berry has done well to capture the time period of the novel, and the expectations of the character upon her return to civilisation.

I must now be a little negative. At the start of the novel, it’s a little unclear when the story jumps between past and present. I found myself rereading certain sections because I thought I was in the present but it turns out to be in the past and vice versa. Also, at the end when you find out what happened to the protagonist in her two years away, it all seems a little easy. Some of the events were a little unreasonable. I still don’t fully understand why the person took her, and he cut out her tongue because if she can’t talk, she can’t implicate _______ (underline intended. I don’t want to give away any spoilers). But she can write it down? Why didn’t he then cut off her hands?

Despite this, the story is interesting and had me turning the page. I just would’ve liked a little further clarification on the ending and a little more clarification at the beginning on the setting.

My Score: 8/10

The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

I won’t lie. I picked up this book because the ‘major motion picture’ is about to come out, and I was curious. A lot of people seemed to read this in high school, and until the movie trailer was released, I’d never heard of this book. And to think of all the books I had to read in high school that I didn’t enjoy, and here was this book that I would’ve loved to have read in high school.

This novel is fast-paced and has an intriguing premise. It is a great children’s book and I can see why kids would love it. However, in saying that, the book probably could’ve been double the size and helped to fill in a few gaps that I noticed. I read this in a few hours and I wanted to know more about The Giver’s memories and about Jonas’ reaction when he finds out what ‘releasing’ entails. I think that there isn’t enough stylistic development between when Jonas makes this discovery and when he runs off with Gabriel.

Although the novel is fast-paced, at times it was a little too quick. The novel is supposed to take place over approximately one year and I didn’t get that from the text. It seemed like one month, maximum. And I feel like the social dynamic between Jonas and The Giver could’ve been explored more, but since this is children’s fiction, Lowry can get away with it.

My Score: 8/10